Operating systems are often updated to fix certain software bugs and/or improve the performance of network devices. For example, an operating system running on a network device may receive an update that is intended to patch a newly discovered security vulnerability and/or improve the network device's performance. In this example, the operating system may then install the update in an effort to patch the security vulnerability and/or improve the network device's performance.
In some cases, a traditional update may have an unintended negative effect that creates a new security vulnerability and/or impairs a network device's performance in one way or another. As a result, the network device may have been better served to maintain the previous version of the operating system rather than install the update. Unfortunately, the traditional update may have initiated certain configuration changes in the network device that are not backwards compatible with the previous version of the operating system. Accordingly, the network device may be unable to downgrade to the previous version of the operating system after having installed the update, thereby leaving the negative effect intact.
The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for efficiently downgrading operating systems installed on network devices.